Alphonse de Lamartine

Alphonse de Lamartine (21 October 1790-28 February 1869) was the Head of State of France from 6 May to 28 June 1848, succeeding Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure and preceding Louis-Eugene Cavaignac. He was instrumental in the foundation of the French Second Republic in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1848, and he also ensured that the tricolor remained France's national flag.

Biography
Alphonse de Lamartine was born in Macon, Burgundy, Kingdom of France on 21 October 1790 to a family of provincial nobility. He became a poet in 1820 and became a member of the Academie Francaise in 1829 before becoming a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1833 as a Legitimist. Lamartine became a Moderate Republican in 1848 and supported the French Revolution of 1848, becoming the elderly Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure's right-hand man. He became a member of the Executive Commission after the revolution, and he met with fellow politicians at Paris' Hotel de Ville, where they created the French Second Republic. During the Second Republic, Lamartine - who was given the post of Foreign Minister - successfully argued for the continuation of the tricolor flag (which he saw as the flag of France's victories), the abolition of slavery and the death penalty, the right to work, the national workshop programs, democracy, and pacifism. His moderate views led to his followers deserting him, and he lost the 1848 presidential election. He continued to write up until his death in 1869.